Car door structure



Nov. 10, 1936. A. B. WEGENER CAR DOOR STRUCTURE Filed Jan. 3, 1955 h/EGENEE 9/. seer 5.

Patented Nov. 10, 1936 UNITED STATES CAR DOOR STRUCTURE Albert B. Wegener, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 3, 1933, Serial No. 649,919

10 Claims.

This invention relates to car door structures and concerns itself primarily with the maintenance of the integrity of the doors and the supporting means therefor.

It is an object of this invention to provide car door structures supported for sliding movement upon tracks and means for maintaining the door supports in engagement with the tracks in the closed position of the door structures.

A further object of this invention is to provide car door structures supported for sliding movement upon tracks and means for preventing upward jumping of the doors in their closed position.

A further object is to provide sliding door structures for railway house cars supported for sliding movement upon tracks, the cars and doors having means engageable in the closed position of the doors to prevent vertical movement of the doors relative to the tracks.

A further object is to provide a bottom supported door for railway house cars slidably supported upon tracks, the cars and upper margins of the doors having means engageable in the closed position of the doors to prevent vertical movement thereof relative to the tracks.

A further object is to provide doors for railway house cars having hangers, including rollers and pins, secured to the lower margins thereof for slidably supporting the doors upon tracks, the cars and upper margins of the doors and means engageable in the closed position there of for exerting a downward pressure upon the doors to prevent relative vertical movement and consequent wear between the parts of the hangers.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the description thereof proceeds.

In the drawing forming part of this specification:

Figure l is a partial elevation of a house car having a sliding door embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the structure shown in Figure 1 on an enlarged scale.

Referring to the drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral [0 designates a portion of the car side of a railway house car. A door II is provided on said car to close the customary opening formed in the car side. The door II is illustrated as being of metallic construction and may embody a plurality of horizontal corrugations l2, merging at their ends into vertical corrugations l3 and I4 positioned adjacent the vertical edges of the door. The door is adapted to be supported for sliding movement upon a track l5, secured to the house car in any desired manner, by means of hangers l6 secured preferably adjacent the lower corners of the door. Each of the hangers I6 is provided with a pin ll adapted to support a roller l8 in rolling engagement with the track. Each of the hangers is provided with a plurality of flanges l9 and 20 adapted to embrace the depending flange Zl formed on the track 15 to prevent disengagement of the lower portion of the door from the track. Disengagement of the upper portion of the door from the car is prevented by means of a retaining plate 22 secured to the depending leg 23 of a substantially Z-shaped side plate 24 carried by the car. It has been found that the means utilized upon sliding doors for railway house cars for supporting said doors for movement upon tracks are ordinarily subject to wear and relatively rapid deterioration as a consequence of the vibration set up in the various elements of said means. This vibration is introduced into these elements by the continual and rapid vertical movement of the door and the supporting means carried by the door relative to the track. While this rapid wear of the elements of the supporting means was known and the cause therefor appreciated and, while attemptshave been made to avoid the consequences of such wear, no successful means within app-licants knowledge has as yet been designed to overcome the difficulty above set forth. The instant invention, as exemplified in the embodiment illustrated, is believed successfully to overcome this difficulty.

There is secured adjacent the upper margin of the door I I an angle bar 25 which extends preferably the entire length of the door. The angle bar 25 is secured to the door so as to present a vertical attaching flange 23 lying within the retainer bar 22 and an outwardly extending horizontal flange 21. Secured preferably to the outwardly extending flange of the angle bar 25 adjacent the upper corners of the door is a plurality of projections 28 and 29 provided with the substantially convex engaging surfaces 30 and 3|, respectively. It is to be observed that the projection 28 is of less heighth than the projection 29 for a reason which will hereinafter appear. The retaining bar 22 carries a plurality of spaced depending projections 32 and 33 fastened to the retaining bar preferably by means of rivets extending through the horizontal flange 34 of the retaining bar. The projections 32 and 33 are provided with depending convex engaging surfaces 35 and 36, respectively. It is to be noted that the projection 32 is of greater heighth than the projection 33.

With particular reference to Figures 1 and 3 of the drawing, it will be apparent that in the closed position of the sliding door engagement between the convex surfaces of the projections 32 and 33 and the convex portions of the projections 28 and 29 is had. By this engagement a downward pressure is exerted upon the door in its closed position so that relative vertical movement between the door and the track upon which it is supported is prevented. With the elimination of the relative vertical movement or vibration of the door relative play between the pins, their bearings and the rollers is obviated.

As pointed out hereinbefore, the projection 28 is of less heighth than the projection 29 while the projection 32 is of greater heighth than the projection 33. In view of these relative dimensions of the engaging projections it is apparent that the door may be moved to its full open position without interference between the projection 28 provided on the door and the projection 33 provided on the car.

It will be apparent that while the instant invention is disclosed for efiective cooperation with a door in closed position, it is cooperable as effectively with a door in open position.

It is apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes be comprehended within this invention, which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

I. In a railway house car having a door opening, a track secured to said car adjacent one margin of said opening, a door for closing said opening, means supporting said door for sliding movement upon said track, a plurality of spaced projections depending from said car, a plurality of spaced upwardly extending projections provided on said door, said projections being engageable for the purpose set forth.

2. In a railway house car having a door opening, a track secured to said car adjacent one margin of said opening, a door for closing said opening, means supporting said door for sliding movement upon said track, a pair of spaced projections depending from said car, a pair of spaced upwardly extending projections provided on said door adjacent the front and rear margins thereof, said projections being engageable in the closed position of the door, the projection on said door adjacent the front margin being capable of passing under the rearwardly disposed car projection in the opening movement of said door.

3. In a railway house car having a door opening, a straight track secured to said car adjacent said opening, a door for closing said opening, means including antifriction members engaging said track for supporting said door for sliding movement and abutments carried by said car and said door, engagement between said abutments being established during a predetermined portion of the sliding movement of said door, whereby to exert a downward force upon said door for the purpose set forth.

4. In a railway house car having a door opening, a straight track secured to said car below said opening, a door for closing said opening, means including antifriction members adjacent the lower margin of said door engaging said track for supporting said door for sliding movement, a retainer secured to said car for the upper margins of said door and abutments carried by said retainer and said upper margin of the door, said abutments being engageable in the closing movement of said door whereby to exert a downward pressure upon said door to prevent vertical movement of said door relative to said track.

5. In a railway house car having a door opening, a straight track secured to said car below said opening, a door for closing said opening, means including antifriction members adjacent the lower margin of said door engaging said track for supporting said door for sliding movement, a retainer secured to said car for the upper margin of said door, an angle member secured to said upper margin of the door and abutments carried by said retainer and said angle member engageable during a predetermined portion of the sliding movement of said door for the purpose set forth.

6. In a railway house car having a door opening, a straight track secured to said car below said opening, a door for closing said opening, means including antifriction members adjacent the lower margin of said door engaging said track for supporting said door for sliding movement, a retainer secured to said car for the upper margin of said door, an angle member secured to said upper margin having an outwardly extending flange, abutments secured to said retainer and said flange engageable in the closing movement of said door for the purpose set forth.

7. In a railway house car having a door opening, a track secured'to said car adjacent one margin of said opening, a door for closing said opening, antifriction means supporting said door for longitudinal sliding movement upon said track and cooperable rigid means provided on said car and said door engageable when said door is in a predetermined position to prevent upward movement of said door.

8. In a railway car having a door opening, a track secured to said car adjacent one margin of said opening, a door for closing said opening, antifriction means supporting said door for longitudinal sliding movement upon said track and spaced rigid means secured to said car, spaced rigid means secured to said door adjacent the vertical margins thereof engageable with said car means when said door is in a predetermined position to prevent upward movement of said door.

9. In a railway house car having a door opening, a track secured to said car adjacent one margin of said opening, a door for closing said opening, antifriction means supporting said door for longitudinal sliding movement upon said track and spaced rigid means secured to said car, spaced rigid means secured to the upper margin of said door adjacent the vertical margin thereof automatically engageable with said car means during a predetermined longitudinal sliding movement of said door to prevent upward movement of said door.

10. In a railway house car having a door opening, a track secured to said car adjacent one margin of said opening, a door for closing said opening, antifriction means supporting said door for longitudinal sliding movement upon said track and spaced rigid means secured to said car, spaced rigid means secured to the upper margin of said door adjacent the vertical margin thereof engageable with' said car means when said door is in a predetermined position to prevent upward movement of said door.

ALBERT B. WEGENER. 

